Why Lebanon students received a Holocaust grant

The Lebanon school board on Monday night accepted a $500 grant from the Central Pennsylvania Holocaust Education Fund of The Foundation for Enhancing Communities.

The grant will be used to offset transportation costs for about two dozen Lebanon High School students who will be traveling to Europe in June to visit the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland and other historic sites, said Superintendent Marianne Bartley. The 10-day trip is being paid for by the participating students and other grants.

The Central Pennsylvania Holocaust Education Fund provides money for school trips to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. and other educational opportunities that instruct high school students on the significance of the Holocaust in Jewish and world history, according to the organization's website.

Lebanon High School is on track for a new running surface.

Also Monday night the school board awarded a contract to ATT Sports of Berlin N.J. to install a new synthetic running surface on the Lebanon High School track.

A new surface is needed because the current track installed in 2010 has outlived its five-year recommended life span, said Brian Hartman, the district’s director of buildings and grounds.

Five athletic-surface companies recently submitted bids on the project, with ATT Sports' being the lowest at $178,316. The epoxy-chip track is an upgrade from the current surface. It has a recommended life span of 10 to 12 years, but could last as long as 15 years, Hartman said.

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ATT Sports of Berlin, N.J. has been awarded the contract to install a new surface on Lebanon High School's track this summer.(Photo: John Latimer, Lebanon Daily News)

The bids were written with the help of consultant Brian Bingeman of Turf, Track and Court who did a good job in estimating the cost, Hartman said.

“There was about a $40,000 spread between the low and high bidders, so that means our specs were written well,” he said at last Monday's workshop meeting. “It shows that Brian Bingeman did his job well and we did our homework ahead of time.”

The installation, which will also include resurfacing the shot put area at an additional cost of $9,325, will be done over the summer and be ready in time for next year's track season, Hartman said.

“Computer Science for All” grant gaining STEAM

The board approved applying for a $50,000 “Computer Science for All” grant from the National Science Foundation.

Should the district receive the grant, it would use the funds to create a STEAM – Science, Technology, Engineer, Art and Math – summer camp that would likely be targeted to one elementary grade, said Bartley. Based on summer school costs, $50,000 would be enough to pay for several weeks of the program for 250 to 300 students.

Computer Science for All is a federal initiative started a year ago that provided $4 billion in funding for computer science education.

Foster children focus of memorandum

To comply with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, the school board approved a memorandum of understanding with Lebanon County Children and Youth Services to ensure the educational stability of foster care youth. The memorandum stipulates that when foster students move into or out of Lebanon School District but remain in their current school for an established period, their transportation will be provided and the cost shared equally by both districts.

Old technology traded for new

The board approved the sale of up to 1,250 iPads and other outdated computers to Diamond Assets for a recovery of $60,000 to $82,000. The recovered money will be reinvested into technology for the elementary level, said Chief Information Officer Shawn Canady.